The big reveal of the acts competing in Melodifestivalen 2018 is less than one week away, but the names of rumoured acts keep coming in. Aftonbladet has named singer-songwriter Dotter, TV personality Edward Blom, musical theatre star Emmi Christensson, Melfest diva Jessica Andersson and ’90s popstress Emilia as likely acts, while celebrity mag Hänt reckons Mariette will be making her third Melfest appearance.

Dotter

Johanna Jansson — who performs as Dotter (daughter) — is a singer-songwriter. She made her Melfest debut in 2017 as one of the songwriters behind Mariette’s entry “A Million Years”.

Edward Blom

Edward Blom is a historian and television personality — not a singer. But this summer he was the star of an unexpected viral hit single. Producer Tonsatt took Edward’s speech and autotuned it to create the dance track “När Man Festar Festar Man”, which reached No.32 in the Swedish charts. But the question remains, what would his Melodifestivalen entry involve?

Emmi Christensson

Emmi is best known as a musical theatre performer. She has recently starred as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, both in London’s West End and alongside Peter Jöback in the Stockholm production. She will make her Melfest debut.

Jessica Andersson

Jessica Andersson is a six-time Melodifestivalen veteran. She has performed twice as part of the duo Fame, including their victory in 2003 with “Give Me Your Love”, which went on to place fifth in Riga. As a solo artist, she has competed at Melfest four times. Most recently she had with the power ballad “Can’t Hurt Me Now”, which placed 11th in 2015. Aftonbladet‘s source says that Jessica Andersson’s spot in Melfest 2018 is not guaranteed yet.

Emilia Rydberg Mitiku

Emilia is best known for her 1998 single “Big Big World”. The modern ballad was an international hit and reached No.1 in eight countries and hit No.5 in the UK. Emilia has also previously competed at Melodifestivalen. In 2009 she placed ninth in the grand final with “You’re My World”. Aftonbladet‘s source is also careful to note that Emilia’s place at Melfest is not guaranteed.

Mariette

Swedish celebrity news publication Hänt has some Melfest rumours of their own. They’re tipping Mariette to make her third Melfest appearance. Mariette placed third at Melfest 2015 with her ballad “Don’t Stop Believing” and earlier this year she placed fourth with the uplifting song “A Million Years”. Her 2017 song also won the OGAE 2017 Second Chance Contest, showing there’s still a lot of love for Mariette!

Robyn Gallagher

Robyn Gallagher contributed this report from New Zealand. You can follow Robyn on Twitter @robynesc. Keep up with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by liking our Facebook page and by following the team on Twitter @wiwibloggs.

This is my understanding of it. Exactly half the songs are selected via the Melfest team liaising with records labels, etc. This is where all the big names come from. The other half comes from public submissions. These are assessed by a jury who initially listen to the songs without knowing who the artist is. They shortlist the songs and the Melfest team makes the final call.

The acts are selected not just on song quality (though that is a huge factor) but also genre, gender, age, appeal to different parts of the audience, etc. It’s not just an ESC selection show – it’s a six-week Swedish music festival that has to appeal to broad audiences.

Thank you for the answer. Sweden might need to change something if it wants to be above 5th place (2016 and 2017). Sweden is overestimated because it’s Sweden, so 5th place might be already too much. The General is starting to have too much power.

He is a famous TV personality gastronome, who is known for his big love for luxurious food and parties his strong personality. He has become an icon for many Swedes for his characteristic style.

In December 2016, he dropped his Christmas single “Nu Lagar Vi Julen” which is about Christmas food and how Christmas traditions are important to him. This became a sensation, not necessarily for the song’s musical quality, but because people thought that the probability of him making a song was about the same as Orlando Bloom wearing a pink dress landing on your head. However, the song “När Man Festar Festar Man” (When you party, you party) mentioned in the article wasn’t even his. It was another guy named Adam von Friesendorff who made it as a “YouTubers sing”-type project. He had nothing to do with the song originally, but he enjoyed it. And so did most people in Sweden, it became one of the most viral videos of 2017 here.

And now, he’s in Melfest. I think we can expect something a bit Björn Ranelid-esque, but as usual, time will tell. I really hope this rumour is true tho! I hope you understand it a bit better, I tried my best to explain…

My Eurovision Scoreboard

Get wiwimail

About Us

All images on www.wiwibloggs.com are readly available on the internet and believed to be in public domain. Images posted are believed to be published according to the U.S Copyright Fair Use Act (title 17, U.S. Code.). Copyright ® 2009-2017 wiwibloggs.com. All text herein is property of the web site and may not be copied or reproduced without explicit permission.